We are pleased to invite you to the 6th International African Palliative Care Conference hosted by the African Palliative Care Association and the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Rwanda at the Kigali Convention Centre, Rwanda from 17-20 September, 2019.

The Theme of the conference is Palliative Care and Universal Health Coverage and underscores our collective role in fulfilling our moral and legal obligation of leaving no one behind in access to essential health services including palliative care and pain relief for adults and children with serious health-related suffering (SHS)

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), Universal Health Coverage (UHC) means that all people have access to the full spectrum of essential, quality health services they need (health promotion, prevention, treatment, rehabilitation and palliative care) without the risk of financial hardship when paying for them.

Palliative care is defined by WHO the as an approach that improves the quality of life of patients (adults and children) and their families facing the problems associated with life-threatening illness, through the prevention and relief of suffering by means of early identification and thorough assessment and treatment of pain and other problems, physical, psychosocial and spiritual (WHO, 2002). Palliative care is therefore a core component of UHC.

This conference is both an advocacy and reporting opportunity that focuses on understanding the trends, lessons and best practices as well as evidence on cost-effective interventions that can enable nations to ensure universal access to palliative care and pain relief as an integral component of UHC.

It will also enable countries to share progress on their implementation of the May 2014 World Health Assembly (WHA) Resolution on palliative care; the May 2017 WHA resolution on cancer and the 2012 African Union (AU) common position on controlled substances and access to pain medications.